History of the Jews, Vol. 1 (of 6)

by Heinrich Graetz

Jezebel, the Phœnician princess, whose father had filled the post of priest to Astarte before he obtained the throne, was filled with enthusiastic eagerness to carry out the plan of Canaanising the people of Israel. Either from a perverted idea or from political considerations, she desired to amalgamate the Israelitish people with her own, and make Tyrians and Israelites one nation. She continued the work commenced by Omri, with energy and mercilessness, and led her weak-minded husband into all kinds of oppressive and unrighteous actions. Jezebel's gloomy and obstinate character, with her uncontrollable energy, was the cause of a ferment and commotion in the kingdom of the Ten Tribes, which led to disastrous results, but which, like a destroying storm, performed the beneficent service of clearing the atmosphere. Jezebel's first step was to build a great temple to Baal in the capital of Samaria. In such a temple there were three altars, images and pillars, which were dedicated to a sort of holy trinity: Baal, his consort Astarte, and the god of fire or destruction (Moloch Chammon). For this worship, Jezebel introduced into the country a host of priests and prophets (450 for Baal and 400 for Astarte), who were supported at the expense of the royal house, and dined at the queen's table. Some of these priests attended to the sacrifices in Samaria, while others rushed madly through the country, celebrating their scandalous rites in the cities and villages. The Phœnician priests or prophets attired themselves in women's apparel, painted their faces and eyes, as women were in the habit of doing, their arms bared to the shoulders, and carried swords and axes, scourges, castanets, pipes, cymbals and drums. Dancing and wailing, they whirled round in a circle, by turns bowed their heads to the ground, and dragged their hair through the mud. They also bit their arms and cut their bodies with swords and knives till the blood ran, providing an offering for their bloodthirsty goddess. Doubtless they were accompanied by temple priestesses (Kedeshoth), who followed their shameful pursuit in honour of Astarte, and for the benefit of the priests. By means of this troop of priests of Baal and the ecstatic followers of Astarte, Jezebel hoped to wean the Israelitish people from the God of its fathers, and to carry into effect the plan of entirely transforming the national character. At the head of the Phœnician priesthood there was a high priest, who probably gave instructions and commands as to how they were to proceed. In the first place, the altars dedicated to God were destroyed, and others erected in the Canaanite fashion, with pointed pillars, the symbols of an obscene cult. The altars in Bethel and Dan were, no doubt, transformed in a similar manner. It was intended that the sacrifice-loving nation, for want of altars of its own, should bring its offerings to the temples of Baal and of Astarte, and thus become accustomed to this mode of worship. How easy it is to force a nation to give up its usages and peculiarities, and to accept those of strangers, if the rulers act with subtlety and force combined! The Israelites in the kingdom of the Ten Tribes had already been demoralised, owing to their half-century's separation from Jerusalem (the centre of intellectual activity), and to the bull-worship which they had long been practising. The cities had acquired a taste for luxury, and a love of dissipation, which the impure worship of Baal and Astarte only served to foster. The towns doubtless, for the most part, yielded to the new state of things, or, in any case, offered no opposition to it. Seven thousand individuals alone remained firm, and would not pay homage to Baal, nor adore him with their lips. A part of the nation, amongst them the villagers, meanwhile wavered in their ideas and actions, and not knowing whether God or Baal was the mightier divinity, they worshipped the one publicly and the other secretly. It was a period of uncertainty and confusion, such as usually precedes an historical crisis. It remained to be seen whether the ancient belief in the God of Israel, and the demands of holiness had taken sufficiently deep root, and had acquired enough vitality and power to conquer an opposing force and eradicate what was foreign. In such times a man of striking personality, in whom lives a pure faith, and who is entirely ruled by it, naturally assumes leadership, and by firmness, enthusiasm and heroic self-sacrifice convinces the waverers, strengthens the weak, incites the indifferent, and thus collects an army of defenders to rescue from imminent destruction their own national, peculiar endowments. When such an individual is roused by the very opposition of the enemy, and spurred on to action, he becomes a vivifying principle, and brings about a new state of things, a mingling of both old and new elements. Such an individual arose during this crisis in the person of the prophet Elijah (920–900).

Whence came this energetic, all-subduing prophet? In which tribe was his cradle? Who was his father? This is not known. He was simply known as Elijahu (shortened into Elijah). He was not a citizen of Transjordanic Gilead, but belonged to that class of tolerated half-citizens called Toshabim (dwellers). He was of a tempestuous nature, and was guided by no considerations of expediency; he would not have hesitated to offer his life for his creed. He was considered by his successors as the incarnation of moral and religious zeal (kanna). Like a tempest he made his entry, like a tempest he thundered forth his execrations against the weak, woman-led Ahab; like a tempest he rushed away, so that no one could seize him; and in a tempest he finally disappeared from his earthly scene of action. Elijah was imbued with the one thought, to save the belief in the God of Israel, which was passing away from the minds of the people. To this God he dedicated himself, and to His service did his life belong solely and exclusively. Elijah was outwardly distinguishable by his peculiar dress. In contradistinction to the effeminate, luxurious dress of the worshippers of Baal and Astarte, his undergarment was confined by a leather belt, and over it he wore a black hairy cloak. He wore his hair long, and touched no wine, and thus gave rise to the institution of Nazarites, who were not permitted to drink wine or to shave the hair of the head. In this costume and with these habits he appeared first in Gilead, and there announced the all-embracing creed, "Jehovah alone is God." Here, where the Jordan offered a barrier against the swarms of the priests of Baal, and where the fear of Ahab and Jezebel could not paralyze the conscience, there were yet faithful adherents of the God of Israel. Amongst these Elijah probably found his first auditors and disciples, who were carried away by his enthusiastic manner, and became his helpers.

In a short time a body of prophets or disciples (Bene-Nebiim) had arisen, who were ready to give up their lives for their ancestral tenets. They also followed Elijah's way of living, and became Nazarites. The principles of this newly formed circle were to lead a simple life, not to dwell in cities where luxury and effeminacy ruled, but in village tents, not to drink wine, not to till vineyards, to avoid agriculture generally, but, like the patriarchs and the tribes in earlier times, to live by tending flocks. Jonadab, the son of Rechab, who doubtless was one of the followers of Elijah, was the first to establish these rules for himself and his household. He impressed on his descendants the necessity of abstaining from wine, from building fixed residences, from sowing seed, and especially from planting vineyards. In this way Elijah not only aroused and inspired a band of defenders of the ancient law for his own time, but opened the path to a new future. He set simplicity and self-restraint against degeneracy and love of pleasure. With his body of disciples he eagerly commenced action against the priests and prophets of Baal. He probably passed rapidly from place to place, called the populace together, and inspired them with his storm-like eloquence, the point of which was "Jehovah alone is God, and Baal and Astarte are dumb, lifeless idols." He may even have incited attacks on those priests of Baal whom he encountered. Jezebel could not long endure the doings of the energetic Tishbite, which interfered with her plans; she sent her soldiers against Elijah's troop, and those who fell into their hands were mercilessly slaughtered. They were the first martyrs who died for Israel's ancient law. Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, the priest of Astarte, was the first persecutor for religion's sake. Elijah himself, however, on whom Jezebel was specially anxious to wreak her vengeance, could never be reached, but always eluded his pursuers. His zeal had already produced an important effect. Obadiah, the superintendent of Ahab's palace, was secretly attached to the ancient law. He who, perhaps, had the task of persecuting the disciples of the prophet, hid one hundred of them in two caves of Mount Carmel, fifty in each cave, and supplied them with bread and water. Obadiah was not alone—he had in his employ men of his own faith, who executed his secret commissions. How could Jezebel combat an invisible enemy that found assistance in her own house?

One day, Elijah, though deprived of his followers, ventured into the vicinity of King Ahab, whose weak, pliable disposition he knew, in order to reproach him for the misdeeds which he permitted. Ahab had a passion for building and fortifying towns. It was at his instance that Jericho, which had been deprived of its walls since the entry of the Israelites, was fortified by Hiel of Bethel. Ahab also founded a new capital in the beautiful table-land of Jezreel, where he was desirous of passing the winter months, for Samaria served only as a summer residence. This new town of Jezreel, which was destined to become the scene of tragic encounters, was built with great splendour. The royal couple had a palace of ivory erected there, which was to be surrounded by extensive gardens. For this purpose Ahab wished to have a beautiful vineyard which belonged to Naboth, one of the most respected citizens of Jezreel. Ahab offered him a compensation, either in money or land, but Naboth did not wish to part with the heritage of his fathers. Disappointed at his inability to surround his palace with park-like grounds, Ahab would not even take food. Finding him in this state, Jezebel contemptuously upbraided him for his childish vexation and his cowardly helplessness, but promised him that he should nevertheless possess the desired vineyard. She sent out letters in the king's name to those of the elders of Israel of whose slavish obedience she was certain, and commanded them to produce two witnesses who would testify to having heard Naboth revile the gods and the king. When the council of judges had assembled at one of the gates of Jezreel, and Naboth, who was the eldest among them, had placed himself at their head, two degraded men appeared, and testified against Naboth, under oath, as they had been instructed. Naboth was condemned to death by the elders, and the sentence was carried out not only on him, but also on his sons. The property of the executed fell by law to the king. Jezebel triumphantly announced to her husband, "Now take Naboth's vineyard, for he is dead." When Elijah heard of this crime, he could no longer contain himself. He repaired to Jezreel and met the king just as he was inspecting Naboth's vineyard. Behind him rode two men, of whom one was fated to become the avenger of Naboth. The prophet thundered out to him, "Hast thou murdered, and dost now take possession?" "In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine." (1 Kings xxi. 19; see 2 Kings ix. 25). This denunciation had an overwhelming effect on Ahab. He reflected and meekly did penance, but ruthless Jezebel's power over her weak-minded husband was too strong for this change of mind to last.

Elijah, who had suddenly disappeared, now returned a second time to Ahab, and announced that a famine of several years' duration would befall the land. He then departed and dwelt in the Phœnician town of Zarephath (Sarepta), at the house of a widow, and later in a cave of Mount Carmel. Meanwhile a famine devastated the land, and there was not fodder even for the king's horses. One day, Elijah approached Obadiah, the superintendent of the palace, and said to him, "Go, tell thy master, Elijah is here." On his entrance, Ahab said to him, "Is it thou, disturber of Israel?" Then the prophet replied, "Not I have troubled Israel, but thou and thy father's house have."

As though he had the right to give orders, he bade the king command the priests of Baal to assemble on Mount Carmel, where it would be revealed who was the true, and who the false prophet.

What occurred on Mount Carmel, where the contest took place, must have produced an extraordinary impression. Ahab, we are told, summoned all the prophets of Baal to the mountain, whither many of the people repaired, anxious to witness the result of the contest between the prophet and the king, and to see whether the prevailing drought would in consequence come to an end. The hundred prophets who had hidden in the caves of Carmel, and were maintained there by Obadiah, were probably also present. Elijah presided at the assembly, which he addressed, saying (1 Kings xviii. 21): "How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him." He then ordered the priests of Baal to erect an altar, offer sacrifices, and call on their god for a miracle. The priests did so, and according to their custom, they wounded themselves with knives and lances till the blood gushed forth over their bodies. They cried from morning till midday, "O Baal, hear us!" When they at length ceased in confusion, Elijah erected an altar of twelve stones, performed his sacrifice, and prayed in a low voice. Then a miracle followed so suddenly that all present fell on their faces and cried, "Jehovah alone is God!" A flash of lightning burnt the sacrifice and everything on the altar, even the water in the trench was dried up. Elijah determined to avenge himself on the priests of Baal, and commanded the multitude to kill them and throw their bodies into the river Kishon, which flowed hard by. Ahab, who was present, was so amazed and terror-stricken that he permitted this act of violence.

Jezebel, however, who was made of sterner stuff, did not look with equal unconcern on this scene. On receiving information of what had occurred, she threatened Elijah with a similar fate, if he should ever fall into her hands. He was, therefore, obliged to flee in order to save himself. In the desert near Mount Horeb he had a vision, in which it was revealed to him that the kingdom would pass away from the house of Ahab, whose descendants would be utterly destroyed, and that Jehu was to be anointed as king over Israel. Elijah himself was instructed to return on his way to the wilderness of Damascus, appoint a successor, and retire from the scene of action. The intemperate zeal which had led him to direct the slaughter of the priests of Baal was severely condemned on Horeb.

During Elijah's long absence there appears to have been a sort of truce between the royal house of Omri and the followers of the Tishbite. Ahab, who had been an eye-witness of the events at Carmel, had probably become more indifferent towards the worship of Baal, and as far as lay in his power had put a stop to the persecution of the prophets of the Lord. The latter, on their part, also seem to have become less aggressive. Associations of prophets were formed in Jericho, Bethel and Gilgal, in which places they were permitted to dwell unmolested.

One prophet or disciple, however, remained inimical to Ahab—namely, Michaiah, son of Imlah. As often as the king sought out Michaiah to learn his prospects of success in some enterprise, the prophet foretold evil. Ahab, however, did not attempt his life, but merely imprisoned him. The ruler of the kingdom of the Ten Tribes had misfortunes enough to serve him as forewarnings. The king of Aram, Ben-hadad II., became daily more powerful, more presuming, and more eager for conquest. Besides his own horsemen and chariots, he had in his train thirty-two conquered vassal kings. With their assistance he attacked Ahab—doubtless in the hope of profiting by the famine and the discord which were weakening his kingdom. Ben-hadad subdued entire districts of the kingdom of the Ten Tribes, and besieged Samaria (904). In his distress, Ahab sued for peace, but Ben-hadad imposed such hard and disgraceful conditions that Ahab was forced to continue the contest. Finally, Ahab was victorious, and the Aramæan king, forced to surrender, was ready to promise anything in order to secure peace. The former enemies became friends, made a treaty and ratified it by many oaths, soon to be forgotten. This hastily-formed alliance was rightly condemned by one of the prophets, who predicted that Ahab had thereby created a fresh source of danger.